142 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



LAND DA YAK MEN OF SARAWAK 



The bamboo boxes at their belts contain tobacco, matches, and 

 betel-nut and siri to chew. Generally the loose end of the chawat, 

 or loin cloth, hangs from the belt, but the young swell with the bead 

 necklace has tucked the corner of his chawat into the belt, so as to 

 be dressed a little differently from the others. 



also afflicted with badly inflamed eyes, so 

 common among the natives ; but for the 

 latter ailment I was fortunately able to 

 give him considerable relief. He was a 

 very good boy^ however, anxious to assist 

 me in every way. The younger Dayak, 

 Migi, was a companionable, good-natured 

 little fellow, with velvety brown skin, a 

 laughing face, and handsome boyish fig- 

 ure — a constant stimulus to the good 

 spirits of the party. 



Our first day's jour- 

 ney was to have taken 

 us to a Kayan house, 

 but unfortunately the 

 river was in freshet 

 and the current so 

 strong that progress 

 was very slow. We 

 did not reach the 

 house, and one of the 

 Malay boys, Bakut, a 

 Mohammedan, took 

 delight i n teasing 

 Migi, who had incau- 

 tiously remarked early 

 in the afternoon that 

 he had seen an omen 

 bird that assured him 

 we should find the 

 house just around the 

 next turn. 



A NIGHT OF DIS- 

 COMFORT 



As darkness came on 

 and it began to rain, 

 we found ourselves 

 compelled to seek an 

 eddy in the current. 

 Fastening the prau to 

 the bank near an old 

 clearing, three of my 

 crew discovered a di- 

 lapidated hut, which 

 they patched up for 

 the night, while the 

 remainder slept with 

 me in the boat. 



My unhappy China- 

 man found a spot on 

 the muddy bank, 

 where, in the rain, 

 with the help of an 

 umbrella, he cooked 

 an excellent supper, while I, under the 

 shelter of the palm-leaf roof of the boat, 

 collected many beautiful moths, attracted 

 by the light of my acetylene lamp. A 

 black, rainy night is . the best possible 

 time for the collector, for on a clear night 

 the nocturnal insects seem to fly high. 



Besides the moths, a swarm of tiny 

 flies gathered in front of my lamp as 

 dense as a little cloud of smoke, but for- 

 tunately mosquitoes and that worst-of-all 



